Down 5, CPU storms back

FORT DODGE - Down five runs and teetering toward tournament oblivion, Center Point-Urbana needed a jolt.

Olivia Brecht provided it.

Brecht's home run started the long climb back, and eighth-ranked CPU sprinted past No. 7 Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley, 10-5, in a Class 3A quarterfinal at the state softball tournament Tuesday afternoon at the Rogers Sports Complex.

'I had faith in my team that we could come back,” Brecht said. 'After the home run, I think the energy in our dugout went up a ton.”

The Stormin' Pointers (30-13) advance to the semifinal round against No. 1 Solon (40-3), at 11 a.m. Thursday.

Solon blasted Clarke, 18-0, in three innings Tuesday.

'This team continues to impress me,” said senior catcher Elizabeth Hearn. 'Anything is possible. We'll see what happens, We'll prepare our best and fight our hardest.”

CPU was ragged early, coughing up four errors and surrendering three unearned runs as BHRV (31-4) jumped to a 5-0 lead.

'At that point, I wanted your job,” said CPU Coach John Olachnovitch. 'We were down 5-0 and I was feeling like a fool.

'Then, (Brecht) hit that dinger.”

Brecht sent an 0-2 pitch just inside the left-field foul pole for her first homer of the season, and the Stormin' Pointers had the start of a rally under way.

'I was just trying to square the ball up and hit it hard,” she said.

Taylor Henderson added an RBI single, then Claire Chandler tacked on a two-run hit, and the deficit became much more manageable at 5-4 through three innings.

CPU took a 7-5 lead in the fourth. Hearn executed a squeeze bunt to perfection to tie it, then Claire Holtz's sizzling grounder got through BHRV shortstop Sammy Blum's legs to score a pair.

Meanwhile, CPU pitcher Samantha Croghan was shutting the Nighthawks down, retiring 14 of the final 17 batters - one of those was an error, another was an intentional walk to C.J. VanDerZwaag, who had hit a two-run home run in the first inning.

'I just focused on winning every pitch,” Croghan said. 'I was hitting my spots, and getting that first strike.”

The Stormin' Pointers put it away in the bottom of the sixth. Hearn singled home Katelyn Banning, then a grounder back to the pitcher's circle by Henderson was thrown away, allowing the final two runs to score.

Croghan retired the Nighthawks in order in the seventh, guaranteeing CPU its best state finish in three trips.

Brecht was 3-for-4, and CPU finished with 12 hits against VanDerZwaag (29-2), who entered the game with a 0.49 ERA.

'I didn't think we'd score 10 runs,” Olachnovitch said. 'I was hoping, if we played well, we could get five or six. We did execute a few things really well.”

CENTER POINT-URBANA 10, BOYDEN-HULL/ROCK VALLEY 5

Class 3A State Quarterfinal, at Fort Dodge

Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley 212 000 0 - 5 6 2

Center Point-Urbana 004 303 x - 10 12 5

C.J. VanDerZwaag and Alexis Mousel. Samantha Croghan and Elizabeth Hearn. W - Croghan (18-8). L - VanDerZwaag (29-2). HR - BHRV: VanDerZwaag (5); CPU: Olivia Brecht (1).

l Comments: (319) 368-8857; jeff.linder@thegazette.com